Betty Mundy's Bottom is a wooded valley in the
South Downs
The South Downs are a range of chalk hills that extends for about across the south-eastern coastal counties of England from the Itchen valley of Hampshire in the west to Beachy Head, in the Eastbourne Downland Estate, East Sussex, in the east. ...
of
Hampshire
Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English citi ...
.
There are a variety of folk tales about the name, which goes back centuries. One theory is that it is from the Latin ''beati mundae'', meaning the most beautiful place in the world. Another has it that Betty Mundy lived in a cottage there and that she would waylay discharged sailors walking along the Sailor's Lane, murdering them for their wages or leading them to a
press gang. Other stories are that she was a witch or fairy that would curse or trick people.
In 1941, there was building work to renovate two cottages owned by Major Pelly. In 2012, a substantial country house known as Mundy's House was rebuilt there.
References
Geography of Hampshire
Valleys of England
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